For a more compact listing of my qualifications, check out my LinkedIn profile.
I obtained my Master of Social Work degree in May 2021 as part of Wilfred Laurier University’s very first online-only cohort in its social work program. This turned out to situate me uniquely well when the COVID-19 pandemic hit; most students and social workers struggled to make the sudden leap to virtual learning, teaching and support, but I had been immersed in online environments for years. The pandemic’s long-term effects on society – and the silver linings noticed by many disabled individuals, who now were not automatically excluded from events or services due to challenges with travel – have convinced me to offer almost exclusively online services as a form of accessibility for both you, and myself.
My career at Laurier granted me deeper dives into the nuances of loss, grief, and mourning; Indigenous (largely Haudenosaunee & Anishnaabek) understandings of self, relationships among all beings, and social workers’ opportunities to redeem the profession after its contributions to cultural genocide; relationships among culture, ethics, and how to avoid complacency; and much more.
I also had incredible twin opportunities as an intern. The first took place at the MCCHR (Manulife Centre for Community Health Research) at Laurier itself, under the guidance of Dr. Ginette Lafreniere; the second allowed me to step up my participation in the Gender-Variant Working Group, a small grassroots trans/non-binary activist group supported at arm’s length by ACCKWA (the AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo & Area) at which I had already volunteered since 2016.
[more to come]
I cannot leave out the vast learnings I gratefully received during my six years as a Direct Support Person at Extend-A-Family Waterloo Region (2017-2022). The adults and children who welcomed me into their lives – often with breath-taking trust in my honesty and abilities – have taught me more about how to provide one-to-one help that actually lifts people up than any other single source.
2024 update:
As time has passed, and in response to unexpected need, I have developed a specialty in complex trauma, dissociation and multiplicity. I would like to honour Christine Forner (at Associated Counselling), Nicole Faulknor (at Wounds2Wings/TEAO), the amazing speakers and community at Infinite Minds’ Healing Together annual conference, the beautiful community at Multiplied By One – and several folks brave enough to open up and share their experiences with me – as some of my primary teachers in this ever-evolving sub-field. I have come to believe that the healing of dissociation, the end of child abuse, and the end of structural oppression in our societies are intertwined projects. I encourage you, from the bottom of my heart, to learn more about these subjects and help end the stigma against dissociative identity disorders.
Past Projects
I co-designed and co-facilitated the first and second sessions of the “Do One Thing” habit-building virtual peer support group, running six weeks at a time from Nov-Dec 2022 and Jan-Mar 2023. “Do One Thing” itself is an initiative of Adults Hacking ADHD!, an online peer support group for individuals 18 and up. Each weekday we gathered as a group to support each others’ journey towards intentional living – a challenging proposition for many with ADHD – through discussion, psychoeducational resources, and mutual brainstorming sessions.
From 2016-2023, I worked at Extend-A-Family Waterloo Region as part of the organization’s training team on abuse awareness & prevention for developmentally/intellectually disabled individuals and their families. The 3-hour workshop focused on teaching the foundations of consent, boundaries, healthy relationships, and self-awareness vitally necessary for the safety of – truly, everyone – but especially individuals made vulnerable by their need for intensive supports and compassion from many others in their lives. This position also granted me the wonderful opportunity to periodically review and update the workshop’s curriculum.